


Float

by rynling



Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: Adults Being Friends, Engineer Husbands, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-18
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-03-31 03:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3962908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rynling/pseuds/rynling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Setzer experiments with casting Float on the resurrected Falcon. He receives varying degrees of help from Edgar, Celes, Sabin, and Cyan. Party downtime with a touch of Setzer/Edgar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Float

_**Float.** _

_**Float.** _

_**Float.** _

Edgar had fallen asleep in the cockpit of the Falcon. It was distinctly uncomfortable, and he woke with a stiffness in his shoulders. He climbed back down into the ship's hull with the intention of spending the rest of the night in a bed only to find Setzer awake and repeatedly chanting the same spell.

"Setzer. It's four in the morning. What are you doing?"

Setzer turned to face him. He wore a pair of tinted aviator goggles pushed high on his forehead, where he had wedged a shard of magicite between his skin and the leather band. He looked ridiculous.

"I'm trying to cast Float. Obviously."

Setzer was perched on a couch in front of a table, which he had cleared of the various items that now surrounded it on the floor. On the top of the table was a single die. Setzer turned back to face it and gazed at it intently.

**_Float._ **

The crystalline magicite pulsed with a faint glow, but the die remained motionless.

"It doesn't look like you're having much luck."

"Nonsense. Luck is simply a matter of statistics. If I cast the spell enough times, I'm bound to achieve the intended result. Like so – "

_**Float.** _

The die didn't move an inch.

"If not this time, then the next."

Edgar walked to the couch, meaning to sit down next to Setzer, but the seat was occupied by a large folio, which was being used as a platform for a mixture of glasses and bottles.

"That's a classic logical fallacy. Isn't it named after gamblers?" Edgar asked, moving to the other side of the couch.

"Indeed it is," Setzer replied. "Drink?"

Edgar sat down and extended his hand for a glass. Setzer supplied it and then, as Edgar watched, poured a mixture of gin, tonic water, and ether, which he stirred with a drafting pencil.

Edgar took a sip. "This is foul."

Setzer laughed. "Agreed. I can't stand the taste of ether, so I cut it." He raised his own glass and drained it. "Disgusting." He swung back toward the die on the table, as if he could somehow surprise it.

**_Float!_ **

The die remained firmly rooted to the table.

Edgar extended his hand again. "Let me try."

"Be my guest," Setzer said, pulling off the goggles and handing the magicite to Edgar.

Edgar set his glass on the folio beside him and, clutching the magicite in his fist, chanted,

_**Float.** _

The die didn't move.

Edgar held the opaque crystal to his eye but could see nothing. "Setzer, I think this one is broken," he remarked.

"It most assuredly is not. Have more gin."

After adding more alcohol to Edgar's drink, Setzer mixed himself another ether concoction. The two men clinked their glasses together, and Setzer reapplied the magicite to his forehead.

"You know that looks absurd."

"I'm not going to look so absurd when this die starts to – "

_**Float!** _

The die sat smugly on the surface of the table.

Edgar took a sip of his drink. "I don't think you're putting enough effort into it."

"You may be right."

_**Float!** _

"More spirit!"

_**Float!** _

"More panache!"

_**Float!** _

"More verve!"

_**Float!** _

"More élan!"

_**Float!** _

"More – "

"Edgar! It's four in the morning! What are you doing?"

Celes had emerged from her cabin. She was wearing nothing but shorts and a camisole. Her hair puffed around her face like a halo.

"My dear lady, I'm simply trying to teach this poor man magic."

"Exactly so, Celes. It is a most mysterious art."

"Oh, for fuck's sake. You're both such amateurs. You need to gesture and articulate. Watch."

Celes rotated her right wrist clockwise, pulled back her arm, raised her palm, and then pushed it toward the die, crisply chanting,

_**Float.** _

The die jumped into the air and hovered at the height of Celes's outstretched arm.

"Fascinating," Setzer said, plucking the die from the air in front of him. He placed it back on the table, pushed the table farther away from the couch, and the repeated the gesture Celes had made, casting,

_**Float.** _

The die snapped smartly into the air directly before Setzer's palm.

"How about that."

"I told you," Celes murmured.

"Well done, sir." Edgar raised his glass in a toast.

"It's four in the morning. Are we ready to go?"

Sabin had emerged from his cabin. The three turned to face him. He appeared as fresh as the morning dew.

Setzer narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell me you were awake this whole time."

"I was meditating. The Falcon flies for the first time today, and I needed to calm my nerves. I assume you were doing the same?"

Sabin smiled, and Setzer returned it, beaming.

"Of course not! If I say she'll fly, she'll soar like a bird!"

"Sunrise is in half an hour," Sabin responded. "If we're going to set out, there's no better time."

"I think that's also a fallacy," Edgar muttered.

Celes looked down at him. "Hey," she said, "even if the ship crashes, at least the pilot can cast Float."

 

* * * * *

 

_**Float.** _

"Come on – "

_**Float!** _

The Falcon had risen from its watery grave, and it had soared just as Setzer said it would. Following Celes's whim, Setzer steered the ship southward towards the ruined city of Zozo. The journey would take some time, so Setzer had asked Edgar to take the first shift to ensure that the ship's reprogrammed autopilot would keep them on their course. After several hours, Edgar descended from the cockpit, once again finding Setzer chanting the Float spell.

The die Setzer was using to practice hovered obediently in the air. As Edgar watched, Setzer waved his right hand back and forth, but the die remained in place.

_**Float.** _

_**Float?** _

"Still no luck?"

Setzer continued staring at the die. As Edgar sat down on the couch, he noticed with relief that the clear glass bottle perched on the seat beside Setzer was filled with water. Without asking permission, he raised it to his mouth and drank deeply. When his thirst had been sated, he put the bottle down on the table beside the shard of magicite and Setzer's discarded aviator goggles.

"You know, when we touch down again, I do think we should get you another pair. These smell like – "

"Like the western wind? Like the calm before a storm? Like lightning rushing across the heavens?"

"I was going to say 'like they haven't been cleaned in years,' but most certainly, yes, exactly like that."

"Fantastic."

Setzer fell back onto the couch and closed his eyes. The die remained in place, hovering a foot and a half above the surface of the table. Edgar glanced at Setzer. His hair was tied back, and his forehead was clammy with perspiration.

"I take it that you're trying to move objects through the air?"

"This object won't move."

"Perhaps if you try a bit of swishing and flicking...?"

Setzer glared at Edgar. "I'm going to swish and flick your – "

"Actually, it helps if you can get a good visualization."

Sabin appeared in the doorway to the stairs leading to the second lower deck. Celes soon emerged from behind him. The two had been sparring, and they were slightly flushed.

"Sabin's right, Setzer," Celes added. "Just moving your hand won't do much. You've got to picture what you want to happen in your mind. If you're not convinced it will happen, it won't."

"That's true," Sabin nodded. "It's just as mental as it is mechanical."

"How do you know so much about it?" Edgar asked.

"Brother! What do you think I was training for all these years?"

"I'm going to say bodybuilding," Setzer said.

"Definitely bodybuilding," Edgar agreed.

"I won't deny that." Sabin flexed theatrically. "And did I ever succeed! Come here, you two. Let me show you how strong I've gotten!"

Sabin stepped forward, and the die leapt into the air and struck him between his eyes.

"That's how you do it!" Celes cheered.

 

* * * * *

 

_**Float.** _

There was a pause.

_**Float.** _

There was another pause and then a soft whistle.

Edgar emerged from his cabin, rubbing his eyes against the lamplight. Setzer was again seated on the same couch, but he had pushed the table to the side. Walking toward him, Edgar could see that Setzer had drawn a large semicircle with chalk on the floor, upon which angles were marked like the spines of an oversized protractor. The table was covered with paper weighed down by an abacus. Instead of a die, Setzer was casting the spell on playing cards, several of which hovered around him.

_**Float.** _

Setzer gestured with his hand, and one of the cards flew through the air. It was then that Edgar noticed a series of concentric circles drawn on the opposite wall, which had been cleared of furniture. The card struck the outer rim of one of the larger circles and then fell to the floor.

"Don't you think it's a little late for card games?"

"Hold on," Setzer said. He was scribbling something on a sheet of paper.

Edgar sat down beside Setzer, who poured him a cup of coffee from a thermos sitting on the table. Edgar took a sip. It was warm and tasted faintly of nutmeg.

"Setzer, I'm going to confess that I don't understand what you're doing. You've been awake for almost two days just to learn to cast this spell. What are you hoping to accomplish? I would have thought you'd want to be at the wheel."

"I do want to be at the wheel, but I can't stay there for two reasons. Can you guess what they are?"

"Why don't you enlighten me."

"First, I don't want to risk sun blindness."

"And second, you're lazy."

"And second, you all need to learn to pilot this ship without me."

"So you're sitting just below the cockpit because you don't trust us."

"I wouldn't say that. After all, it would be a great inconvenience to me if one of you were to crash this ship, and I don't want to be distracted."

"From your important experiment, no doubt."

"Don't underestimate magic."

"I'd rather rely on technology."

"Why separate the two? Take your crossbow, for instance."

Setzer rolled his wrist, and a pencil appeared in his hand. He flicked his thumb, and it danced across his knuckles.

"Let's say this pencil is one of your bolts."

_**Float.** _

The pencil zipped through the air so quickly that it became embedded in the wood of the far wall.

"I don't need magic to do that."

"Of course not. But this is where magic can come in handy."

_**Return.** _

The pencil vanished from the wall and flashed back into Setzer's hand. With a flourish of his sleeve, he made it disappear again.

"Where'd you learn that?"

"It's an old card trick, Edgar."

"Very clever. And the spell?"

"That I learned from Terra."

"When did she teach you such a thing?"

"When I beat her in five straight rounds of poker. We made a bet, you see. I was letting her win, and it went to her head."

"When did you teach Terra to play poker?"

"When she asked me?"

"Setzer, she's barely an adult."

"Let the girl be. If you want to watch over young women, you should relieve Celes. She's probably asleep at the wheel."

"I'll take over from Celes, but only if you promise to sleep."

Setzer frowned.

"Don't you trust me to fly your ship?"

"Have it your way," Setzer said. "Just be sure to treat her gently."

"Of course," Edgar smiled. "I can do gently." He leaned forward and placed his lips against Setzer's. The suspended cards fell to the floor.

 

* * * * *

 

"Hey Edgar."

"Setzer?"

_**Float.** _

Edgar's feet were kicked out from under him as he was launched into the air. He lost his balance, fell, and was caught by an invisible cushion a foot above the floor. He grasped about wildly for several seconds but could find no purchase.

"I say, could you put me down?"

Setzer, who had been leaning against the railing of the airship's inner deck while waiting for Edgar to climb down from the cockpit, slid across the wooden floorboards and inserted his arms under Edgar, setting him on his feet.

"I can't believe that worked," he remarked.

"Was that truly necessary?" Edgar asked, annoyed.

"No harm done," Setzer responded, his face close to Edgar's.

"Brother!" A booming voice rang out from below. "Has that man impugned your honor?"

Setzer drew away and called out to Sabin. "Nothing of the sort," he said, walking down the steps to the lower deck. "His Majesty was merely helping me with an experiment."

Sabin grinned. "He's had me 'help' him with a number of his own experiments. No doubt he made a willing accomplice."

Celes and Cyan, who had been having a quiet yet intense discussion in a corner seat, lifted their heads.

"Did you figure it out?" Celes asked, directing her question to Setzer. "Do you think you could do it again? Why don't you try it out on Sabin?"

Setzer locked his fingers and pushed his hands forward, cracking his knuckles as he regarded Sabin. "That okay with you?"

"I'm ready when you are!"

"You didn't ask me for permission," Edgar grumbled, flopping onto a couch. Setzer ignored him.

_**Float.** _

Sabin appeared to leap two feet into the air. He bend his knees as if bracing for impact and landed on the flats of his sandals, which hovered over the floor. He flexed his ankles and, determining that it had no effect, relaxed his feet. He took a step forward, and then another, and then fell flat on his face, still hovering.

Setzer managed to choke back his laughter, but Celes made no such attempt. Sabin rolled over onto his back and joined her, guffawing as he somersaulted up into a standing position.

_**Float!** _

Celes cast the spell on herself and hopped into the air. She gracefully danced her way to Sabin and poked him, sending him tumbling down again.

"I think your kid brother might need some assistance," Setzer remarked to Edgar. "Care to help him out?"

"Don't you dare."

Cyan cleared his throat.

"Gentlemen, if I may," he said. Although he spoke softly, his voice was mellifluous and resonant. "We use a similar technique of levitation in the sword arts. The key is to master the perception of yourself as perfectly still as the world turns underneath your feet. Should your destination be clear in your mind's eye, you need merely to focus on your strike."

"That's right," Celes agreed, nodding. "It's done – like so!" She lunged at Setzer, who sidestepped her neatly and used the momentum to propel himself onto the couch next to Edgar.

"You weren't supposed to do that! This is a teaching exercise," she pouted.

Setzer waved his hand at her. "My apologies. Do carry on."

Celes and Sabin continued to sport across the sunken lower hull of the airship as Cyan followed them on foot while making adjustments to Sabin's stance.

Setzer turned to Edgar. "Are you sure you don't want to join them?"

"I'm quite comfortable here. Why don't _you_ join them? Have you not cast the spell on yourself?"

"Of course I haven't. I don't need magic to fly."

"Don't tell me you haven't tried it once."

"Fine, I tried it. Once. I didn't fare much better than you."

"Perhaps we both need more practice."

"Oh?" Setzer raised his eyebrows. "And just how do you propose we practice?"

"We will need to undertake several trials."

"To determine which positions are most effective?"

"Exactly."

"Great minds think alike. We'll have to discuss this experiment in greater detail later."

"Setzer," Edgar said, his eyes shining. "We have just climbed a mountain and defeated a dragon that by all rights shouldn't exist. I am exhausted and in no mood for talking."

"But surely you're not too tired for science?"

"I am never too tired for science."

"Then to the bedroom. For science!"


End file.
